Join the AMA (Ask Me Anything) with the Firefox leadership team to celebrate Firefox 20th anniversary and discuss Firefox’s future on Mozilla Connect. Mark your calendar on Thursday, November 14, 18:00 - 20:00 UTC!

This site will have limited functionality while we undergo maintenance to improve your experience. If an article doesn't solve your issue and you want to ask a question, we have our support community waiting to help you at @FirefoxSupport on Twitter and/r/firefox on Reddit.

Search Support

Avoid support scams. We will never ask you to call or text a phone number or share personal information. Please report suspicious activity using the “Report Abuse” option.

Learn More

Lolu chungechunge lwabekwa kunqolobane. Uyacelwa ubuze umbuzo omusha uma udinga usizo.

How do I increase the size of the buffer for streaming videos like YouTube

  • 2 uphendule
  • 127 zinale nkinga
  • 1 view
  • Igcine ukuphendulwa ngu cor-el

more options

Like everyone who uses Firefox (Vista Home Premium, HP Pavilion PC, Comcast 12MB/s Internet connection), when I try to view videos on sites like YouTube (and every other streaming video site too), the video keeps pausing while something (Firefox? Windows?) is buffering the video stream. I already know the trick about hitting "pause" as soon as the YouTube video starts and then waiting for the reddish completion bar to run, indicating the buffer is full. But I still get herky-jerky videos. So how can I increase the size of the buffer? Is it a Firefox buffer or is it a Windows buffer or some other buffer?

Like everyone who uses Firefox (Vista Home Premium, HP Pavilion PC, Comcast 12MB/s Internet connection), when I try to view videos on sites like YouTube (and every other streaming video site too), the video keeps pausing while something (Firefox? Windows?) is buffering the video stream. I already know the trick about hitting "pause" as soon as the YouTube video starts and then waiting for the reddish completion bar to run, indicating the buffer is full. But I still get herky-jerky videos. So how can I increase the size of the buffer? Is it a Firefox buffer or is it a Windows buffer or some other buffer?

All Replies (2)

more options

How do I increase the size of the buffer for streaming videos like YouTube

more options

There are two possible causes of such an issue. Either it is the connection and that includes with what speed the server can send the data with and what your ISP passes to you. Another possible cause is security software like a firewall or anti-virus software that throttles the throughput by checking the content or for other reasons.

Do other browsers have that buffering issue as well?


Start Firefox in Diagnose Firefox issues using Troubleshoot Mode to check if one of your add-ons is causing your problem (switch to the DEFAULT theme: Tools > Add-ons > Themes).

  • Don't make any changes on the Safe mode start window.

See Troubleshoot extensions, themes and hardware acceleration issues to solve common Firefox problems and Troubleshoot issues with plugins like Flash or Java to fix common Firefox problems